Raymond Siems, Jamin Wood, Hector Ren and Wenchao Chen

Raymond Siems, Jamin Wood, Hector Ren and Wenchao Chen

Travel success

Engineering

Griffith graduates Raymond Siems (Bachelor of Engineering), Jamin Wood (Bachelor of Engineering), Hector Ren (Bachelor of Information Technology) and Wenchao Chen (Bachelor of Multimedia and Information Technology) struck up a unique business partnership while working together on Griffith’s Gold Coast campus during the summer semester of 2013/14.

The group developed the Ventoura app, which allows travellers to connect with people who live at their holiday destination area and have the ‘awesome experiences’ only local knowledge can provide. It also matches up travellers who are going to the same place at the same time.

“The app gives travellers the opportunity to connect with locals and unlock the secrets of a destination, while also opening up social discovery and the chance to meet like-minded travellers,” Raymond said.

The concept for Ventoura was a joint development by the founding team.

Raymond said he had often thought about the ideas behind the app after finding a niche in the travel market while backpacking around Europe, but it wasn’t until he met Ventoura’s co-founders the skills and talent required to make the dream a reality came to fruition.

“It’s a great case of international and domestic students teaming up to do something they wouldn’t have otherwise done,” he said.

Ventoura capital interest in Helskini saw the group move to Finland in August 2014. After an extensive development stage the app was launched in March 2015.

The move paid off, with Ventoura valued at $2 million just two weeks after it launched.

The Ventoura team now consists of 12 members, including six Griffith alumni.

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